Small Brass Hammer

[thetyreman]

I will need a small brass hammer for adjusting my first wooden handplanes so decided to make one before making the handplane.

I used 1/2" round brass and made a simple jig in a piece of 2 x 2 so that I could drill a hole through the brass, the hole is 8mm.

You simply drill the hole in the centre of the centre line being careful to keep it dead square, a drill press would be a lot easier here..

then I used some old oak stock I've had around for over a year so I knew it should be nice and dry, it's american white oak.

To shape it I used mostly a coping saw to remove most of the waste, then the spokeshave, and it's wedged in with another piece of oak.

I didn't get the hole to line up perfectly centrally in the brass but it doesn't seem to make much difference, it's about 1 mm out from dead centre.

I made this with the specific purpose of adjusting plane blades, it was an enjoyable project that anybody could do with just a few hand tools,

I got the idea from 'making and mastering wood planes' by David Finck, there is a similar hammer in that book but it's a bit bigger made with 5/8" brass rod instead and around 12 inches for the handle.

my version measures exactly 6 1/2" long and the handle was made from 3/4" 20mm thick stock.

feels really good in the hand and I'm surprised at how solid if feels.

For finish I used a pad for some french polishing with de-waxed shellac. (hammer)

any thoughts?

 

[lurker]

That's a thing of beauty .......... But why Krenov?

 

[Benchwayze]

That's a nice little job. Well done.

I have just one wooden plane, and I use a plumber's lead-work mallet for tapping and adjusting.
I don't know what the tool is called but its a small mallet type tool with the head the shape of a child's spinning-top. It's ideal for the purpose. I bought an adjusting mallet from Philly, but it's too nice to use! :mrgreen:
I use a small Western pin hammer to hit the actual blade of course. Nothing fancy.
John (hammer)

 

[Ttrees]

Nice work Ben
Looks great for a shoulders and moulding planes too.
Been thinking about making a wee hammer like that but making one side having a soft head since I've only got steel stock.
Was going to try out a trick for keeping the hole centered like in this video.
[youtube]KYFQB_CG64A[/youtube]

Tom

 

[thetyreman]

That's a thing of beauty .......... But why Krenov?

thanks, mainly because the source I got it from david finck was trained personally by Krenov.

 

[thetyreman]

Nice work Ben
Looks great for a shoulders and moulding planes too.
Been thinking about making a wee hammer like that but making one side having a soft head since I've only got steel stock.
Was going to try out a trick for keeping the hole centered like in this video.

Tom

thankyou Tom

yes it'd be perfect for moulding planes or that kind of thing, any small plane or minor adjusting to a blade.

 

[AndyT]

Nice job. I made something similar as a present - I ought to make one for myself - but I already have a choice of other suitable ones!

 

[woodbloke66]

I use a small Western pin hammer to hit the actual blade of course. Nothing fancy.
John (hammer)

Yep, that's all you need. I use something similar that I bought from Matt Platt at WH a few years ago - Rob